FCC iPhone Sleeve Delay Has Cost FreedomPop over $500k

FreedomPop rolled its WiMAX-capable sleeves for Apple gadgets such as the iPod Touch a while back. These sleeves sell for about $100 and add 4G connectivity to older devices. The company has a sleeve that has been at the FCC for testing for a long time now for the iPhone 4 and 4S.

The company says that the delay in getting the sleeve approved by the FCC has now cost it over $500,000. The company says that the iPhone sleeve was delayed at the FCC because the FCC had never tested device that had a radio against radio design. The design of the sleeve for the iPhone puts the sleeve’s WiMAX radio right next to the iPhone’s cellular radio.

FreedomPop’s CEO says that the company has 5000 sleeves sitting at U.S. Customs waiting for FCC approval to ship. He expects that approval within the next few weeks and the sleeves will start shipping then.